United Nations: The listing of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council has been termed as a “significant achievement” by the member nations in holding perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of acts of terrorism accountable.
The 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the powerful Security Council blacklisted Azhar on May 1 after veto-wielding permanent member China lifted its technical hold on the proposal by the US, the UK and France to list him.
It was a huge victory for India after a decade of relentless efforts to ban the mastermind of several terror attacks against India, including the deadly Pulwama attack. The listing subjects Azhar to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo. “We are pleased that this month, the 1267 Committee designated Masood Azhar, leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, and ISIL-Khorasan, a dangerous ISIS affiliate operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for UN sanctions,” Ambassador Jonathan Cohen, Acting Permanent Representative of the US to the United Nations said at a Security Council semi-annual briefing here Monday by Chairs of subsidiary bodies of the Security Council.
“Azhar’s listing shows that the international community can and will hold terrorists accountable for their actions,” he said.
Last week, the 1267 Sanctions Committee sanctioned ISIL-Khorasan, a terror group also known as ‘’ISIL’s South Asia Branch’, formed in 2015 by a former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan commander, that has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The designation of ISIS-Khorasan demonstrates the Committee’s commitment to ensuring that ISIS affiliates do not take up the mantle of a diminished ISIS core. In this vein, it is important that the Committee designate other ISIS affiliates who seek to replicate the destructions wrought in Iraq and Syria in new corners of the world. We commend our Security Council colleagues for supporting these important designations,” Cohen said.
Germany and Poland, who had also co-sponsored the proposal to blacklist the JeM chief, termed the listing of Azhar as a significant achievement by all members of the Security Council.
“It was a good sign for the work of this Committee that we were able to have the listing of Masood Azhar. It was difficult for some but I think it was very important that we were able to overcome the obstacles,” German Ambassador to the UN Christoph Heusgen said at the meeting. (PTI)
